For more than eighty years, postage meters have been used to evidence postage payment on mail items before the mail items are inducted into a mail stream processed by postal infrastructure. For more than sixty years postage meters were stand-alone devices that had to be hand carried to a Post facility for the purpose of refilling the postage meter with postage funds. Postage meters, using postage funds stored in the postage meter, securely account for the payment of postage that is printed on a mail item.
When remote resetting of postage funds in the meter was implemented, postage meters began to communicate with a remote data center to refill the postage meter with funds. At first, the communication was indirect requiring a user to enter a code received from a postage refill center. In a similar manner, postage rates were updated in the postage meters by manual entry or replacement of removable storage devices that contained postage rates. See for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,792,446, and 4,097,923. In some cases, rate information was stored in a scale that was coupled to the postage meter.
Eventually, it became known for postage meters to communicate directly with a data center for both postage funds refills and rate downloads. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,122,532, 5,729,460, 5,448,641 and 5,309,363. When postage meters began to communicate directly with a data center, information stored in the postage meters, for example, meter usage, was uploaded to the data center. This collection of postage meter information at the data center is commonly referred to as data capture. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,752,950, 4,873,645, 5,072,401 and 6,463,133.
The tracking of mail while being process by a Post infrastructure known. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,043,908, a self-monitoring mail delivery system is described wherein mail is tracked as it passes through multiple delivery stages. A schedule is created of expected arrival times at each stage. Should a mail piece not arrive on time, the system is alerted to initiate a search for the late or missing mail piece, or to take other corrective action, such as expediting delivery of late pieces. A data center monitors the operations and provides management information to help enhance deliveries. Printing a unique number on mail item is also known. See U.S. Pat. No. 6,385,504. The USPS and other carriers have provided track and trace service at different levels of mail or package processing. Most recently, the USPS introduced an new product CONFIRM that helps track mailpieces sent by First-Class Mail or Standard Mail using PLANET Codes.
It is known for postage metering systems to print value-added service requests on a mail items. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,532,452 and 6,463,354 respectively describe sending e-mail notices to a mailer relating to delivery confirmation or to an intended recipient of a mailpiece relating to expected delivery.
Various forms of networked postage metering systems are known. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,151,591, 6,151,590, 6,098,058, 6,085,181 and 6,081,795. Pitney Bowes Inc. of Stamford, Conn., recently introduced a series of digital mailing products referred to as DM Series machines featuring INTELLILINK™, which is an intelligent, network architecture that provides a “gateway” to a suite of mail services and applications.
Heretofore, postage meters typically provided accounting and evidence of payment for mail services. Postage meters may provide certain information to Posts concerning outgoing mail, but do not currently make use of and do not have access to information gathered about the mail by the Postal Service (also referred to herein as the Post) and/or a third party, such as the meter manufacturer, who is administering the accounting performed by the meter, (also referred to herein as the “Provider”). Except for evidencing payment for a particular type of service, postage meters do not currently manage mail once the mail is inducted into the mail processing system.
The USPS provides a workshare discount to a mailer when the mailer inducts a batch of mail into the mail stream. The USPS tests the submitted mail for compliance with discount eligibility requirements. The USPS uses the MERLIN system to verify compliance. The resulting process is cumbersome and expensive for mail acceptance and for reconciliation of disputed payments for both the mailer and the USPS. Currently, the mailer and the USPS perform the following steps: the mailer picks a workshare discount level for a batch of mail, prepares the batch of mail according to discount requirements, prepares necessary documentation for batch, calculates the postage for the batch, and submits the batch to the USPS; the USPS verifies the workshare level of the batch, and if the batch does not meet requirements, then the USPS determines the additional charge; the mailer pays the required postage; and the USPS accepts the mail batch and payment. Approximately 10% of discounts are improperly claimed. Uncollected revenue could be a billion dollars. See the November 1999 GAO report GAO/GGD-00-31 U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, CHANGES MADE TO IMPROVE ACCEPTANCE CONTROLS FOR BUSINESS MAIL.
Mail acceptance verification processes such as MERLIN are expensive, labor and time intensive and potentially inaccurate. The Post has a strong incentive to adjust the verification system to assure a very high level of performance in mail processing. Mailers thus spend funds to produce very high quality mail to pass the verification system. Further, surcharges are levied on mail that performs well in the processing system. This either results in excess payments or withdrawal of the mail batch. In either case, the problem reduces the overall effectiveness of the postal system. The present system is thus not efficient for the complete postal process of producing, processing and delivering mail. Payment of a surcharge is awkward because the employee who brings the mail for submission will generally not have authority to modify the payment. As a result the mailer may withdraw the mail batch temporarily or permanently.
From the foregoing, it is clear that postage meters are known to communicate information in the postage meters to a data center or a Post. However, it is not known for a Post or data center to communicate to a postage meter any information relating to mail items that were processed by the postage meter.